ServiceNow (NOW) Stock Moves -0.81%: What You Should Know

In this article:

ServiceNow (NOW) closed the most recent trading day at $651.03, moving -0.81% from the previous trading session. This change was narrower than the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.91%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the maker of software that automates companies' technology operations had gained 11.83% over the past month. This has outpaced the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 2.86% and the S&P 500's gain of 0.01% in that time.

Investors will be hoping for strength from NOW as it approaches its next earnings release. The company is expected to report EPS of $1.38, up 14.05% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $1.48 billion, up 28.06% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $5.80 per share and revenue of $5.83 billion, which would represent changes of +25.27% and +28.97%, respectively, from the prior year.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for NOW. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 1.61% higher. NOW is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

In terms of valuation, NOW is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 113.21. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 36.53, which means NOW is trading at a premium to the group.

We can also see that NOW currently has a PEG ratio of 4.02. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. The Computers - IT Services was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.88 at yesterday's closing price.

The Computers - IT Services industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 219, which puts it in the bottom 14% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.


Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
 
ServiceNow, Inc. (NOW) : Free Stock Analysis Report
 
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.

Advertisement